Blizzard conditions are causing widespread flight delays and cancellations at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, leaving travelers stranded, rerouting plans, and in some cases, missing major events.
For Ally Gordon and her swim team (Julianna Drake, Sara Wiedoff, Zoe Haeuser), the disruptions have come at a steep price.
The group of four was headed to Orlando for a championship swim meet — one they had trained extensively for — but their original flight, scheduled to depart at 5:30 p.m., was pushed back repeatedly before being canceled entirely, forcing the girls to get a hotel after spending hours at the airport.
"We had to get a hotel. We were here til 1. They just kept pushing our flight back and back until they finally said it's cancelled," Gordon said.
Their rescheduled flight is also delayed, now set to depart at 6 a.m. Tuesday, meaning the team will miss the first day of their five-day championship meet.
Watch: Some stuck, some lucky: Travelers share storm flight stories at MKE
"We're not going to make it for the first day of the meet, which is unfortunate," Gordon said.
The impact goes beyond just missing a day of competition.
"So we are missing one of our relay events of four, and personally, I am missing half of my individual races for the meet, so I won't be able to swim those, which I'm pretty disappointed about," Gordon said.
There may still be some hope for the team, though. Gordon said another team was caught in the same situation, and a coach plans to speak with meet organizers about allowing the affected swimmers to time-trial their missed events.
"So we are hopeful in that way," Gordon said.
Laura Coleman and her husband are also caught in the storm's grip. The couple traveled to Milwaukee from North Carolina to visit family and ran into weather trouble even on the way in — facing delays Friday due to high winds.
Their return flight, scheduled for 6 p.m. the previous evening, was scrapped because of freezing rain and a blizzard warning, sending them to a hotel for another night.
"More delays, we were supposed to fly out last night at 6. That got delayed and then freezing rain, and then blizzard warning so we stayed the night at a hotel and now we're back hopefully to get out, but we will see," Coleman said.
Their new flight is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday. The couple arrived at the airport early to stay informed and get work done while they wait.
Coleman said she found some comfort in the fact that their pilot made the call not to fly the night before — but the uncertainty is still weighing on her.
"To trust his judgement made me feel good, but it does make me anxious when you can't return to your family and your kids and life and things you have planned. You just have to re-route and that's kind of what we have done," Coleman said.
Not everyone at the airport had a rough go of it. Steve Olejarczyk flew in from LaGuardia Airport in New York to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with childhood friends and arrived without a hitch — despite keeping a close eye on conditions overnight.
"We were all discussing the weather situation, I was watching the flights all night," Olejarczyk said.
His flight departed and landed on schedule.
"The plane took off on time at 8:30 a.m. and landed on time at around 10 a.m. here," Olejarczyk said.
Olejarczyk said he had mentally prepared for the possibility of delays.
"I expected minimally I would be spending some extra time in LaGuardia and if everything went completely south I would've went home and tried again tomorrow," Olejarczyk said.
One member of his group was not as fortunate. A friend flying in from Denver is currently delayed at a layover airport.
"The last we heard he was delayed an hour and twenty minutes in Nashville," Olejarczyk said.
Travelers at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport say they are continuing to monitor their flight updates, hoping conditions improve so they can get where they need to go.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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